~ A historic house museum that shares the history of George Whittell Jr. and his beloved lakeside retreat.

Tag Archives: Changes

Anyone who has spent several years at Lake Tahoe knows that the lake fluctuates – this is one of the dry years for certain. Below is a photograph of the lagoon at Thunderbird Lodge I took this weekend. You can see how low we are right now – and why the lake is too low for the yacht to leave the boathouse.

For comparison, here are some slides from mid 1960s when the Crane family visited Thunderbird Lodge. You can really see a stark difference! There is no beach to be seen.

TLPS Collections.

Warren Crane served as Whittell’s personal engineer for several years and was Whittell’s longest serving employee.

TLPS Collections.

Warren and his family often visited Thunderbird Lodge and would stay in the Caretaker’s Cabin on the property.

The slides were donated by Joey and Myrna Pesce in 2012. Myrna is Warren’s daughter and seen in several of the slides of the family’s time at Tahoe.

I am currently going through the Crane/Pesce family slides from 1962. Looking at this wonderful shot of the lakeside view of the Lodge, can you spot all the differences from today? (Click on the image for a larger version) Please respond, I would love to hear what you notice!